Class-action lawsuit filed over alleged harassment while on the job

Former Mountie Janet Merlo, seen here outside her home in Nanaimo on Tuesday, is at the centre of a class-action lawsuit against the RCMP alleging a pattern of discrimination, bullying and harassment. Merlo now runs a home daycare.

Photograph by: Matthew Gauk
, Nanaimo Daily News

VANCOUVER -- A proposed class-action lawsuit was filed today in B.C. against the federal government for the alleged harassment and mistreatment of women RCMP officers.

The lawsuit names Janet Merlo of Nanaimo as the representative plaintiff.

Vancouver lawyer David Klein said his law firm, which filed the lawsuit this morning in B.C. Supreme Court, has been contacted by more than 150 female officers across the country who feel they have suffered mistreatment during their years on the force.

"There is clearly a serious problem in the RCMP," Klein said in an interview. "It has been a toxic environment for women who have served on the force."

In addition to pranks, harassment and bullying by male officers, female officers were subjected to a double standard, Klein said.

"The men are tougher on women than they are on other men," he said.

Merlo, now 44, was a constable with the Nanaimo RCMP from 1991 to 2010.

She claims she was subjected to "persistent and ongoing gender-based discrimination and harassment" by male Mounties.

The legal action alleges widespread systemic discrimination by the RCMP against female members, civilian members and civil service employees.

Merlo's civil claim details the sexist comments, sexual pranks, derogatory remarks and a double standard that Merlo endured over the years.

"It's too late for me," Merlo said in a statement issued Tuesday, "but I hope that this lawsuit will bring about some positive change for women who are still with the RCMP and women who join in the future."

Starting in 1991, it was common for Merlo's supervising corporal to put a naked inflatable doll next to his desk and ask Merlo to stand beside it, the lawsuit claims.

The corporal's supervisor was aware of the doll but never reprimanded him, the lawsuit says.

And beginning in 1992, the suit adds, male Mounties told Merlo's boyfriends that the constable was having sex with her male colleagues, giving descriptions of how she performed a sex act involving a six-pack of beer on her head.

When she became pregnant in the spring of 1992, the legal action claims, Merlo was called into the office of a senior officer, who yelled at her because she was pregnant. The senior officer suggested to Merlo "next time keep your f---ing legs closed" if she wanted to have a career in the RCMP.

After she returned from maternity leave in 1993, her male colleagues would make remarks to her such as: "Janet, can you take that call or are you pregnant again?" the lawsuit says.

Merlo claims male officers working the night shift were allowed to play hockey for three hours while on shift, but female officers were not allowed to take aerobics classes during lunch breaks.

The lawsuit claims Merlo repeatedly complained about the harassment and discrimination, but was told by her superiors to "forget about it."

Any investigations resulted in her complaints being dismissed, Merlo claims.

She also claims she suffered symptoms of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder before being discharged from the RCMP on March 24, 2010.

She is suing the Justice Minister of B.C. and the attorney-general of Canada for alleged negligence of the RCMP in failing to properly supervise its employees and failing to properly investigate complaints of discrimination and sexual harassment.

Thunder Bay lawyer Sandy Zaitzeff, one of the lawyers leading the class-action, said: "For many of these women the consequences of the bullying, harassment and discrimination have been devastating, including post-traumatic stress syndrome, attempted suicides, depression, broken relationships, failed marriages." Zaitzeff also noted impacts of PTSD on the women's families and children.

"This is caused by the systemic paramilitary culture of the RCMP and resultant abuse of authority literally across Canada from detachment to detachment," he added.

The case will have to go to a hearing to be certified as a class-action.

New RCMP Commissioner Bob Paulson recently said he wants all complaints of discrimination and harassment by female officers to be taken seriously and investigated promptly.

Last November, Cpl. Catherine Galliford, 44, a 20-year RCMP member, released an internal complaint about her former Mountie colleagues.

Since then, many current and former officers have gone public with their stories.

Galliford's lawyer, Barry Carter, said Tuesday that Galliford expects to file her lawsuit within a few weeks.

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Former Mountie Janet Merlo, seen here outside her home in Nanaimo on Tuesday, is at the centre of a class-action lawsuit against the RCMP alleging a pattern of discrimination, bullying and harassment. Merlo now runs a home daycare.

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